____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ May 18, 1997 ____________________________________________________ Special Series: Minor Prophets (#5) Hosea: The Broken Hearted Prophet by Jon Quinn I doubt that any of the prophets felt the impact of Israel's faithlessness and apostasy from God any more than did Hosea. Probably none identified more closely with the sorrow God endures whenever His people turn their backs on Him and consort with idols. Out of all the prophets, Hosea was especially prepared to announce God's hurt over the people's disloyalty. God had prepared him. It was rough on Hosea. It was a job that somebody had to do. Because of following God's instructions, Hosea's heart would be broken and he would be publicly humiliated. He would suffer deeply, and in his emotional trauma illustrate to Israel what they were doing unto God. God went to great lengths to turn Israel around. If they won't listen to Hosea and wake up, then they are probably unreachable. God was exceedingly patient with His people. And that's another point to Hosea. Not only had God been wrongfully and spitefully treated by His disloyal people, but He is also abundantly merciful and forgiving. They do not deserve it, but He is offering them opportunity to return. He will care for them again if they will return. It does not have to be over...yet. Consider then the message of Hosea and the way God prepared Hosea for his task. BACKGROUND AND PREPARATION ``When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, `Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry, and have children of harlotry, for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.' So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son'' (HOSEA 1:2,3). Hosea prophesied about 750 B.C. to the nation of Israel, the northern nation of the divided kingdom and the more faithless of the two. It was during the reign of Jeroboam II that Hosea was called by God to be a prophet. He foretold of the destruction of Israel and the captivity of the people. Jeroboam II was the last strong king of Israel. He is followed by a series of short reigning kings who had the habit of barely sitting down on the throne before they were assassinated by someone who wanted to be next in line. The Lord gave Hosea some startling instructions that would have a profound effect on his life and the anguish of his heartfelt sorrow would expose of the treachery of the people's idolatry and wickedness. God commanded that Hosea marry a young lady with no moral or spiritual upbringing. Hosea wasn't to look for one of the few godly women left in the land, but one with little interest in serving God or being a good and loyal wife. Hosea searched and found such a wife in Gomer. He evidently found her to be very attractive and developed strong feelings for her. Hosea's training had begun. THE POINT OF GOD'S COMMAND ``Contend with your mother...For their mother played the harlot; She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, `I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink' (HOSEA 2:1;5). Gomer had rejected her husband's love and care and had chased after lovers who thrilled her and promised her things. She thought that they would supply her with all that Hosea had, and perhaps more. The fact is that they cared nothing for her, not really. All she had came from Hosea. He refused to continue to support her in her unfaithfulness. Soon she would be without anything and then perhaps realize her transgression. The symbols are vivid: God was using Hosea's sorrow over his unfaithful wife as an illustration of His peoples' unfaithfulness to Him. It had been Jehovah who had blessed the people and rewarded them with security and increased their productivity and wealth. But they had turned their backs on Him and opted to serve idols who could do nothing for them. They attributed their past successes to the idols and not unto God. God, therefore, was going to withdraw His divine protection and blessing and Israel would be left empty. The Lord said, ``For she does not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and lavished upon her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. Therefore, I will take back my grain at harvest time...'' (HOSEA 2:8,9). Nations always suffer for their ungodly ways. Ours does too. How can we, today, as a nation expect to sing ``God Bless America'' and then be so obstinate and faithless, partaking in the very same kinds of things that Israel did? Without God's blessing, the good in our nation cannot last. ISRAEL'S CORRUPTION ``And I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she used to offer sacrifices to them...' For the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery...My people consult their wooden idol, and their diviner's wand informs them...'' (HOSEA 2:13; 4:1-2; 12). The moral climate of Israel sounds much like our own today. Even in the texts we listed above there are five of the ten commandments which were being trodden underfoot on a regular basis. Sin had become the norm and nobody could trust anybody. There had grown a mutual disrespect, resentment and distrust of one another. All this would ultimately lead to desolation. The evil started at the very top as well. The king of Israel ruled from the city of Samaria. The government itself had become so corrupt and self-serving that a dark cloud hung over the land. ``The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, and the evil deeds of Samaria, for they deal falsely...And they do not consider it in their hearts that I remember all their evil deeds...with their wickedness they make the king glad...'' HOSEA 7:1-3). CONSEQUENCES OF APOSTASY ``My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge...'' (HOSEA 4:6). Where will all this lead? Certainly the corrupt nation laughed off Hosea's warning. His efforts were no doubt the butt of the jester's jokes as he performed his routine before the king and his court. Warnings of serious danger do no good if they go unheeded. Various figures of speech are employed by Hosea to describe God's sorrowful anger and the coming judgment. ``How long will they be incapable of innocence?...For they sow the wind and they reap the whirlwind'' (HOSEA 8:5,7). It seems as if Israel should occasionally have a good day. But instead it is as though they are incapable of anything but the worst behavior. They seem bent on self destruction, sowing the wind that will one day produce the whirlwind that will take it all away. In describing Assyria to the east as an ``east wind,'' the prophet announces that it will invade Israel and will plunder the treasury of every precious article (HOSEA 13:15,16). The Lord asks, ``It is your destruction, O Israel, that you are against Me, against your help. Where is now your king that he may save you in all your cities, and your judges of whom you requested...I gave you a king in My anger and took him away in My wrath'' (HOSEA 13:9-11). The same could be said concerning our own godless politicians, judges and entertainers. They speak loudly now of things God despises, but where will they be when our cities disintegrate into complete ruin? Are we not also turning against our Help and will it not also result in our destruction to do so? AS ALWAYS, THERE IS HOPE ``Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity'' (HOSEA 14:1). Gomer finally returned to Hosea and he was instructed to take her back (HOSEA 3:1-5). This was an illustration of God's attitude toward those who would repent. ___________________________________________ "For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith" (Rom. 12:3). ___________________________________________ Reasons For Rejoicing by Arnold Spiece The apostle Paul in Philippians 3:1 tells us, ``Rejoice in the Lord.'' This means to be glad, calmly happy, at peace, etc., because of what we have in the Lord. In looking up the meaning of the word ``rejoice'' I realize that there are many reasons that we should ``rejoice in the Lord.'' I would like to list some. We should rejoice because... ...of His birth (Lk. 2:10,11). ...of His power (Lk. 13:17). ...He has gone to the Father (Jn. 14:28). ...we will see Him again (Jn. 16:22). ...we have the word of God (Acts 13:48). ...we have salvation (Acts 8:39). ...our names are in heaven (Lk. 10:20). ...we have liberty in Christ (Acts 15:31). ...we have hope (Rom. 12:12). ...of our prospect of reward (Matt. 5:12). ...of others' obedience (Rom. 16:19). ...Christ is preached (Phil. 1:18). ...of the gospel harvest (Jn. 4:36). ...we might suffer for Christ (Acts 5:41). We can indeed see that we have much to rejoice about when we consider what we have in, and because of, Christ. -- Via The Jordan Journal, April 23, 1997 ___________________________________________ NEWS & NOTES Boyce Barger sent word about his sister-in-law Margaret Barger passing away recently and includes that ``Your prayers for my brother and his family (5 kids -- two still at home -- 1 girl, 17 and a boy, 11) will be much appreciated.'' Jon Fry has informed us of Ola Neuman (89) who also died recently. She had been living in Dayton, Ohio. I was also sorry to hear of the passing away of Cecil Willis. It wasn't too long ago I heard him preach a gospel meeting over in Sciotoville, Ohio; and I enjoyed talking with him afterwards and asking him some Bible questions. Last February, as mentioned in the News & Notes, he had received a triple-bypass surgery for his heart; but his health was also adversely affected by his diabetes and kidney problems. It is probable that he also had a couple heart attacks a year prior to this surgery; and after the surgery, as his son Steve writes, ''...he still had some chest and back pains, though the heart doctor did not feel it was related to the heart problems. He also was waking up at night with leg cramps, jumping out of bed, then -- possibly to very low blood pressure -- would drop, passing out. This happened over 20 times and during one occasion, he chipped some of the bones on his spine. He was still recovering from that.'' We extend our condolences to all of you who have lost loved ones, and pray that God will help you through your time of sorrow. Rob Perkins requests prayer for his father (Bob) who will be undergoing radiation treatment and chemotherapy for cancer. Though only 63 years old, he has been given by the doctors just 1 or 2 more years to live. Rob, however, is hopeful that if we all pray, perhaps God will extend his father's life as the Lord had done for Hezekiah. Bernard Young (Susie Lykins's father) recently underwent surgery to have his appendix removed. All went well, and he is now back home. Christine Stambaugh (Barbara Withrow's mother) has been hospitalized due to acute reactions caused by a stronger dose of medication she started taking for her chemotherapy. Ernest Hamm (Carol Music's father) has been re-admitted to the hospital, due to his condition. Karl Diestlekamp recently underwent an angioplasty for a 95% blockage in a main artery, along with a second blockage. Matt Hennecke writes, ``The blockages will be treated initially with angioplasty, then they will have stents installed through them (a stent is a small stainless steel tube to which plaque will not stick).'' All went well; and Karl is now back home, looking good. Let us also be praying for these who have recently been sick and/or hospitalized that their healing will be speedy. ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 713 13th Street, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@wwd.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.wwd.net/user/tedwards/go ________________________________________